Ex-SAU student gets 42 months in prison for theft IDABEL, Okla. (AP) — A judge in Oklahoma has sentenced a former Southern Arkansas University rodeo team member to 42 months in prison for stealing horses from the school stables in Magnolia. Jaci Jackson was also sentenced Monday to seven years of probation for her role in the theft of horses and equipment in 2011. The horses were discovered in Oklahoma — including one that had been killed — and Jackson faced charges in both states. She’s set ...

Texas fugitive on run for 18 years caught in ArkansasDALLAS (AP) — A Texas man who spent 18 years on the run as a fugitive has been apprehended in Arkansas. Christopher Reuterskiold was being held without bond Tuesday in the Faulkner County jail in Arkansas. U.S. Marshals Service Senior Inspector Joshua Kaplan says the 43-year-old Reuterskiold was taken into custody Friday at his home in Greenbrier, about 40 miles north of Little Rock. Kaplan says U.S. marshals in Dallas recently received a tip ...

Bond hearings (Jan. 28, 2014)• James Johnson, 45, failure to register as a sex offender — $10,000. The Pope County Sheriff's Office received a call on Friday from the Jonesboro Police Department. The JPD officer told PCSO investigators he had information that Johnson, who is required to register as a sex offender, was living in the Appleton area, according to a police report. PCSO investigators located Johnson and arrested him on an outstanding felony warrant out of Jones...

Bond Hearing (Jan. 25, 2014)The following individuals appeared in felony bond hearings Friday at the Pope County Detention Center. Their names, ages, anticipated charges and bond amounts are listed. If charged, they will appear March 3 in Circuit Court. • Billy Cason, 33, aggravated assault — $5,000. Cason was arrested Thursday morning when officers responded to a disturbance at a business. Cason allegedly had a large metal bar and began swinging it at the building, tras...

Police say 3 dead after shooting at Maryland mall COLUMBIA, Md. (AP) — A man carrying a shotgun opened fire at a busy shopping mall in suburban Baltimore on Saturday, sending store employees and customers scrambling for cover. Police said three people died, including the person believed to be the shooter. Five people were injured. Police were still trying to determine the identity and motive of the gunman who killed a man and a woman, both in their 20s, at a skate shop called Zumiez on the up...

Inmate found dead Friday nightA woman facing a second-degree murder charge was found dead Friday night inside the Pope County Detemtion Center (PCDC). PCDC officers notified Pope County 911 of an unresponsive female inmate at approximately 10:32 p.m. Friday. Pope County EMS arrived on scene at approximately 10:41 and transported the female inmate to the emergency room at Saint Mary’s Regional Medical Center in Russellville, where she was later pronounced dead by Pope Count...

Mexican national gets prison for drug charge EL DORADO (AP) — A Mexican national has been sentenced in Arkansas to five years in prison for possessing with intent to distribute more than 500 grams of methamphetamine. The El Dorado News-Times reported Ignacio Barojas Diaz, 58, pleaded guilty to the charge in May. He was sentenced Wednesday at the El Dorado federal courthouse. An officer stopped Diaz for reckless driving in December 2012 and he was arrested for not having a driver’s licens...

Fire victims identified; search ongoing for missing manThe Pope County Sheriff's Office (PCSO) released the names of the two victims found in a burning trailer last week. DNA evidence confirmed the identities of the victims as Billy Allen, 45, and Patricia Meadows, 28, both of Dover, according to a press release issued Thursday by Sheriff Aaron DuVall. Allen and Meadows were found deceased in a burning camper trailer on State Highway 7 north of Dover on Jan. 16. On Tuesday, PCSO announced it was t...

Bond hearings (Jan. 22, 2014)The following individuals appeared in felony bond hearings Wednesday at the Pope County Detention Center. Their names, ages, anticipated charges and bond amounts are listed. If charged, they will appear March 3 in Circuit Court. • Willie Williamson, 38, burglary and theft of property — $10,000. Charges were filed against Williamson and another suspect in October following two July incidents. On July 23, a business owner reported a transmission...

2 arrested in stabbing death in Egypt EGYPT (AP) — Craighead County authorities say a man and a woman have been arrested in connection with a stabbing death in the small town of Egypt. Sheriff Marty Boyd said Silvia Joe Fry, 76, died at a Jonesboro hospital after being found with stab wounds at a home in Egypt Monday night. Boyd declined to identify the suspects — but said they were scheduled for a probable cause hearing on Wednesday.

Sheriff: Fire deaths being treated as homicidesThe Pope County Sheriff's Office (PCSO) announced Tuesday it is treating the deaths of two individuals found in a burning trailer last week as homicides. Sheriff Aaron DuVall said his office is still awaiting positive identification from the Arkansas State Medical Examiner (ME) on the two bodies — one male and one female — that were discovered Thursday in a structure fire north of Dover on State Highway 7. “We are confident that we know who th...

Many remain wary of W.Va. water as smell lingers CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — The smell lingers — the slightly sweet, slightly bitter odor of a chemical that contaminated the water supply of West Virginia’s capital more than a week ago. It creeps out of faucets and shower heads. It wafts from the Elk River, the site of the spill. Sometimes it hangs in the cold nighttime air. For several days, a majority of Charleston-area residents have been told their water is safe to drink, that the concentrat...

Searcy man charged with killing his grandmother SEARCY (AP) — A Searcy man has been charged with manslaughter in the shooting death of his grandmother. Police told reporters that 65-year-old Rachel Maples died Saturday at a Little Rock hospital after being shot in the head Monday while fighting with 24-year-old Grant Crawford over a gun. Crawford said that his grandmother shot herself. Police say they believe Crawford had taken the gun into the home against his grandmother’s wishes and that...

1 dead, 1 wounded in shooting in SW Little Rock LITTLE ROCK (AP) — Little Rock police are searching for three men following a shooting that left one man dead and one wounded on the city’s southwest side. A police report says 31-year-old Thomas Gilbert of Little Rock was found shot to death inside a sport utility vehicle and 32-year-old Terrence Brison was found with gunshot wounds at a nearby home about 9:45 p.m. Friday. A report on the shooting says Brison told officers that he and Gilbert...

Father charged in shooting death of 3-year-old son FONTAINE (AP) — A Greene County man has been arrested for second-degree murder in the shooting death of his 3-year-old son in Fontaine. Sheriff Dan Langston told reporters that 23-year-old Michael Jefferson Carter of Fontaine was arrested Friday for the Jan. 11 shooting death of Logan Carter. Langston said Carter is jailed on $1 million bond and has declined to speak with investigators while he seeks an attorney. Carter’s first court appearanc...

2 of 6 dogs stolen from Texarkana shelter found TEXARKANA, Ark. (AP) — The director of an animal shelter in Texarkana says two of the six pit bulls stolen from the shelter have been found and returned and a third stolen dog has been spotted. Texarkana Animal Care and Adoption Center Director Connie Slater told the Texarkana Gazette two dogs were found Thursday and a third was seen in downtown Texarkana but has not been caught. Slater says one of the recovered dogs is being treated for a nec...

Bond Hearing (Jan. 18, 2014)The following individuals appeared in felony bond hearings Friday at the Pope County Detention Center. Their names, ages, anticipated charges and bond amounts are listed. If charged, they will appear March 3 in Circuit Court. • Dartangnon Marlow Barnes, 39, possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver (marijuana) and possession of drug paraphernalia — $30,000. Barnes was pulled over Thursday by an Arkansas State Trooper for a tr...

Bond hearings (Jan. 18, 2014)The following individuals appeared in felony bond hearings Friday at the Pope County Detention Center. Their names, ages, anticipated charges and bond amounts are listed. If charged, they will appear March 3 in Circuit Court. • Dartangnon Marlow Barnes, 39, possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver (marijuana) and possession of drug paraphernalia — $30,000. Barnes was pulled over Thursday by an Arkansas State Trooper for a tr...

Ohio killer’s execution takes almost 25 minutes LUCASVILLE, Ohio (AP) — A condemned man appeared to gasp several times and took an unusually long time to die — more than 20 minutes — in an execution carried out Thursday with a combination of drugs never before tried in the U.S. Dennis McGuire’s attorney Allen Bohnert called the convicted killer’s death “a failed, agonizing experiment” and added: “The people of the state of Ohio should be appalled at what was done here today in their names.”...

2 arrested in burglary at Texarkana shelter TEXARKANA, Ark. (AP) — Police have arrested two juveniles in connection with the theft of animals and supplies from a Texarkana animal shelter. Police Sgt. Nick Elrod says the two juveniles were arrested on suspicion of commercial burglary, breaking and entering and criminal mischief. Officials say the shelter was broken into Monday night and the suspects were caught on surveillance video. The Texarkana Gazette reported the burglars stole pit ...